Should You Learn a Language to Advance Your Career?

No one language is better than the other, but choosing a language based on your desired industry or location is a good starting point. Understand why learning a language (and using it) benefits many industries and roles. Finally, language difficulty is subjective, so instead of focusing on that aspect, lean into your motivations.

By Mariah Flores?

Learning a new language is fun with some roles requiring a certain level of language proficiency,? it’s great when you can apply it to your career.

As more companies strive for global reach and workers still seek remote (or abroad) employment opportunities, language skills are going to be more important and in demand in the coming years. A 2019 Rosetta Stone survey of the company’s customers helped show the perceived worth of language by both employers and employees, citing nearly 54% surveyed who hold a job said that knowing another language is important in their current position. And as many as 35% of users cited future job prospects chose “to learn another language to help with their future career path or current job.”?

If you’re taking a DIY approach, it’s a good idea to strategically pick a language that will advance your career — giving your language-learning journey a guided purpose.

You may already have some language skills or be bilingual (like the other approximately 66 million people who speak more than one language in the United States). As a professional, harness those unique (and desirable) hard skills, highlighting them throughout your job search or to get ahead in your current role.

Picking a Language To Learn

With over 7,100 languages spoken across the globe, it can be hard to know which language is best for you, your career aspirations and ideal job.?

The best thing you can do is look at the industry you’re interested in (or working in) and location, seeing what languages are more prevalent. For example, Spanish may be a great language to learn for those in the U.S., where there is a large — and growing — Spanish-speaking population. Other languages, like Cantonese and Mandarin, Tagalog, Vietnamese or Arabic should also be considered, given that the U.S. is such a multilingual country.?

?Megan Jeffrey, who is director of strategic initiatives and communication at the University of Maryland’s National Foreign Language Center (NFLC) previously told Get Hired by LinkedIn News:? “Honestly, I don't want to put down any language at all because I think they're all important, it's just if the particular industry you're looking at is by and large populated by a certain group, I think that's the one you should target.”

Learning Any Language Is Beneficial

Realistically, all roles can benefit from language skills.

Ana Goehner, aPHR, who is a bilingual career strategist, agrees, noting that some employers require employees to know two languages to communicate effectively with people from diverse backgrounds, from clients to coworkers.?

She also views language skills as a way to build better, more inclusive workplaces, saying, “Some employees may struggle to understand company communication. When we consider people skills, we make the workplace more inclusive. We open doors for people to find a sense of belonging among their peers.”

Goehner shares a list of industries where bilingualism can thrive, such as healthcare, hospitality, education, law enforcement, customer service, social services, construction, finance and communication.

“I believe all roles can benefit from bilingualism. I think of the cashier at a store helping a non-native English speaker customer to the CEO communicating with employees,” she says.

“I’m Just Going To Learn the Easiest Language”

As you try choosing the ideal language to learn, the concepts of an “easy” or “hard” language may pop into your head.?

USA TODAY writes that Spanish is the easiest language to learn, while Mandarin is the hardest to learn. These findings are based on a number of factors and differ from person to person. However, language difficulty is subjective and very much based on the language(s) you already know and also your reasoning behind learning a language.

At the end of the day, the best languages to learn in order to advance your career are all reliant on what you hope to get professionally from speaking (or simply knowing) another language.?

“Don’t be afraid to add that you speak two or more languages in your LinkedIn profile or resume, even if you aren’t at a fluency level yet. Write your level of proficiency and keep learning the language. You can use free apps on your phone or find content in your local library,” Goehner recommends.

(A version of this article first appeared on October 31, 2022, on the Get Ahead by LinkedIn News page. You can read the full article, which was written and reported by Mariah Flores, by clicking here.)

Careers are complex. Oftentimes, it's beneficial to hear from someone who has successfully navigated their own professional journey. Few people have chartered a career better than Asahi Pompey, who is a partner at Goldman Sachs and president and head of global engagement at the Goldman Sachs Foundation. She joined me for the latest episode of #GetHired with Andrew Seaman to share her career journey (including how she pivoted from a successful career in law to one in finance and threw herself into learning her new field). She also shared some of the exciting initiatives she’s worked on at Goldman Sachs, including One Million Black Women and 10K Small Businesses, which empower underrepresented entrepreneurs. Listen to the episode below or by clicking here. You can also read a transcript of the conversation by clicking here.

If you like the podcast, don't forget to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts by clicking here!

• Can being bilingual help get you ahead at work? (By Mariah Flores) Understand what it means to be bilingual, both personally and professionally. Assess the benefits of being bilingual, including opening up international markets, cultural awareness, and increased productivity. Use your language skills to better leverage job offers, compensation and promotion opportunities. Read more by clicking here.
• How do you highlight your language skills during a job search? (By Lora Korpar) Learning a language is hard and deserves to be properly highlighted during the job search process. You can put language skills in the professional summary, work experience and education sections of your resume, if it applies. Also, it helps to make an effort to show you have cultural knowledge in addition to language skills. Learn more by clicking here.

Learning a new language is a great way to connect with others in business or personal life. This LinkedIn Learning course teaches you the best ways to learn a new language as it strengthens relationships with global partners. You can watch the course below or by clicking here.?

(Additional editing by Ciarra Maraj .)